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Consumer Goods and Retail SVHC Testing

Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) can be found in mixtures such as paints, inks and glues or in articles such as toys, furniture, textiles and electrical products.

Under REACH, all members of the supply chain are obliged to complete some actions relating to SVHC.

At SGS we offer innovative solutions for supply chain management and REACH SVHC testing for consumer products, helping you to achieve REACH compliance and improve your internal business processes.

What are Substances of Very High Concern?

Substances of Very High Concern pose serious risks to human health and the environment. SVHC are substances which can:

Cause cancer (carcinogenic)

Cause genetic mutations (mutagenic)

Be toxic to reproduction

Have other harmful properties and remain in the environment for a long time (persistent)

Gradually build up in animals (bioaccumulative)

Substances of similar concern (e.g. endocrine disruptors)

REACH aims to control the use of such substances through authorization and restriction and obliges manufacturers and suppliers to use safer alternatives or technologies, within a reasonable timeframe.

What are your obligations?

Articles:If you are an EU article supplier and your product contains SVHC > 0.1% w/w, you must communicate information on it along the supply chain. As a minimum, the name of the SVHC has to be passed on. If requested by a consumer you must supply them with the SVHC safe use information within 45 days.

By June 2011, in addition to the communication responsibility, EU article producers and importers have to notify the European Chemical Agency if the total quantity of SVHC in articles is greater than 1 tonne per year. This could be a challenge for retailers who import a large variety of products from various countries and suppliers.

Additionally, manufacturers need to pay attention of the growing number of SVHC substances on the Annex XIV list for authorization. Manufacturers without authorization for a specific substance use must carefully watch the latest application and sunset dates to comply with REACH requirements on allowed SVHC use.

Mixtures for consumers:If you are an EU supplier of mixtures for consumers, you may need to provide a Safety Data Sheet if the mixture contains a SVHC ≥ 0.1% w/w, upon request by downstream users or distributors. This requirement is in addition to the obligations in accordance to the dangerous preparation directive 1999/45/EC and the CLP regulation 1272/2008/EC.

SVHC testing:SVHC may be introduced to consumer products either intentionally or inadvertently through the supply chain and manufacturing process. Laboratory testing provides information on SVHC substance identification and concentration to help companies meet their REACH SVHC obligations.

We provide SVHC testing according to your needs:

On the candidate list:

Full testing

Product risk based screening

On authorization list (REACH Annex XIV)

On the registry of intentions

Potential SVHC that meets the regulatory requirements but not yet included in the candidate list